


The Cell

by PlanetClare



Category: Black Widow (Comics), Captain America (Comics), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics), winterwidow - Fandom
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Captives, F/M, Intrigue, Misdirection, Protection, Protective Bucky Barnes, Rescue Missions, Rescue at Sea, Snarky Sam Wilson, Spies & Secret Agents, Supportive Natasha Romanov, Trust, hidden agendas, winterwidow - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 06:05:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16080002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlanetClare/pseuds/PlanetClare
Summary: On an Avengers mission, Bucky Barnes and Natasha Romanov find themselves in an unaccustomed situation.





	The Cell

“That vent’s just not blowing much air,” Natasha concluded gazing up at the ceiling of the 10 x 10 foot cell in which she and Bucky found themselves.

Staring at the vent for a few moments, Bucky replied, “If I could get up there, maybe I could pry off the plate – not that it would make the air blow any stronger.”

The two eyed the cell’s metal bench which they noted was built into the wall.

“I just don’t see how I can get up there,” Bucky lamented. He stared at Natasha for a long moment and then looked her up and down.”

“Don’t even think about it!” she snapped taking a step backward. “There’s no way I can bear your weight.”

“It was just a thought,” he said.

Pouting, Natasha went over to the bench, pushed Bucky’s mask aside, and plopped down hard. She unzipped her black catsuit a little further and fanned her face with both hands.

“Come here. If I lift you, you might be able to reach it,” Bucky suggested.

Natasha glanced at the vent again before looking at Bucky. Standing, she walked over to him and stood with her arms folded.

Bending slightly, Bucky laced his fingers to give her a leg up. She placed her right foot in his hands and steadied herself with her hands on his broad shoulders. Carefully, he lifted her upward toward the vent.

Natasha scratched at the plate trying to pry it off.

“Damn it! This thing is flush with the ceiling. No way to get it off,” she hissed.

Slowly Bucky lowered her and the two once again stood side by side and stared at the vent.

“Well, looks like we’ll have to sweat it out for a while,” he said with a sigh.

The two were silent for a few moments and then Natasha said, “You blame me for this, don’t you?”

After a pause, Bucky replied, “I didn’t say that.”

“But you _do,_ don’t you? You paused,” she observed.

“There’s no point in discussing it, Nat.”

Bucky walked over and removed his mask from the bench. As the two sat together, he placed the mask on the floor between his feet. Sadly, they began to ponder the events that led to their being in the cell.

Earlier that day, Bucky and Natasha agreed to investigate a ship carrying a large cargo which entered the harbor from Victor Von Doom’s country, Latveria. The monarch Von Doom claimed that the vessel carried a shipment of aluminum for a company named Prospect Corp. Through some hacking, Bucky discovered that Prospect was a shell company for Justin Hammer’s flagship company, Hammer Industries.

Because most activity from Latveria raised eyebrows, Bucky and Natasha sneaked aboard the vessel to discover what was really in its cargo hold. Realizing that the ship carried illegal arms instead of aluminum, the two attempted to discreetly disable the ship’s crew.

Stealthily eliminating guards one or two at a time, the duo was initially successful until Natasha leveled a guard who tripped an alarm which sent even more guards coming their way. Outnumbered, the two were apprehended and roughly escorted to the cell.

As they sat quietly, Bucky was not willing to give up on the vent. Gazing up at it, he made a suggestion.

“You know, maybe if I remove my arm, I could punch through the vent and – ”

“Don’t bother,” a discouraged Natasha mumbled. “Like you said – just because the vent’s open wider doesn’t mean we’ll get any more air.”

After a moment, Bucky replied, “If they weren’t jamming transmission, we’d be out of here by now.”

“Oh yeah? How do you figure that?” she asked doubtfully.

“When Steve asked us to take on this mission, I hid a tracking device in my left arm – just in case. If I could get the signal through…”

“Wouldn’t it be kind of embarrassing to ask Steve to come bail us out?” she wondered.

“At this point, I don’t really give a crap. It beats sitting here dying of heat exhaustion.”

“Well, there is that,” she admitted.

Bucky began to unfasten the straps on his tunic.

“Maybe removing your Kevlar’s not such a good idea,” warned Natasha.

“If I don’t, I’m gonna pass out,” he confessed.

Just then, the two heard footsteps coming from down the hallway.

Quickly re-snapping his tunic’s straps, Bucky tried to discern how many footsteps were approaching.

“Sounds like at least three guards. When that door opens, be ready for anything. Stay behind me and when you see a chance to run – go!”

“I’m not leaving you, James,” she warned.

“Nat – ”

“It’s not open to discussion,” she declared.

The two stared at each other as the footsteps drew closer. Bucky knew there was no arguing with her, so he simply put on his mask and waited for the footsteps to reach the cell.

When the cell door opened, a guard stepped in pointing a rifle. Bucky immediately disarmed him and planted his foot in the center of his chest so hard that it broke the guard’s sternum and sent him flying into the hallway.

Bucky swiftly grabbed Natasha’s arm and pulled her against the near wall next to him. As another guard stepped into the cell, Bucky chopped him in the throat and punched him sharply in the stomach knocking all the wind out of the man. As he lay on the floor moaning and trying to catch his breath, Natasha reached down and punched him in the face knocking him out.

When Bucky confronted the third guard in the hallway, he yelled, “Nat, NOW!”

Natasha stepped into the hallway and doubled the guard with a ferocious punch to the solar plexus. She then slammed her knee into his forehead as he fell forward.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said.

“Right behind you,” Bucky agreed.

The two made their way to the deck and Bucky stepped in front of Natasha to protect her. Suddenly, the two looked up and saw a huge, dark shadow descending upon them from above. As Bucky pulled Natasha close behind him, the outline of a quinjet became visible.

“It’s about damn time,” Bucky said with a wave.

A rope ladder was quickly lowered and Bucky made Natasha step on first. He climbed onto the rung below hers and held onto the ladder with his right hand while he wrapped his left arm around her.

Looking down, they saw a few guards run onto the deck and aim their guns at them.

“Come on! Move it!” Bucky yelled at the open door above.

Just then, Natasha heard Bucky give a sharp grunt and fall against her.

‘He’s been shot!’ she realized with horror. “James!” she yelled but could not be heard over the roar of the quinjet’s engines.

Suddenly, the jet pulled sharply to the right and ascended leaving the guards to shoot wildly into the dark, moonless night.

As the ladder was raised and the two climbed on board, Bucky was irked to see who was at the controls.

“Well, well, well! Look who it is,” Sam Wilson said with a broad grin.

Removing his mask, Bucky snapped, “Great. Of all the people Cap had to send, he sends Wilson.” Throwing his mask onto one of the passenger seats, he then began to unsnap the straps of his tunic.

“'Any port in a storm.' Am I right?” Sam laughed. “Cap said you needed help, so – ”

“We didn’t need any help! We had everything under control,” said Bucky removing his tunic and a black shirt underneath it.

Natasha winced with concern when she saw the bruise on Bucky’s side which was left by the bullet. They both glanced down as it fell from his tunic and hit the floor of the cockpit.

Gazing at the bullet, Sam asked, “Oh, yeah?” doubtfully. “So, that’s just another one of your excuses to take off your shirt, then?”

Bucky looked at Natasha to back him up.

“Yeah, we were fine,” she agreed not making eye contact with Sam. She pulled a cold pack from the jet’s first aid kit, squeezed the pouch to activate it, and handed it to Bucky to press against the bruise on his ribs.

“Well, after Steve lost your tracking signal, he told me to stay close in case you needed help with a getaway,” advised Sam.

“Wasn’t necessary,” Bucky insisted.

“So, I should drop you two back on the ship?” Sam asked.

“NO!” Bucky and Natasha yelled in unison.

Laughing, Sam steered the jet toward the Avengers’ compound while Natasha aimed a vent toward her face to cool off.

Still fuming, Bucky mumbled, “Stupid Wilson.”

“What’s that, Barnes?” he asked.

“Just fly!” snapped Bucky, which made Sam laugh again.

Bucky sat back and propped his right foot on the top of the console. He would never admit it to Sam, but he was glad to see the Avengers’ compound in the distance. After his time with Natasha in the hot cell, he looked forward to cooling off with a cold drink and a shower. More than anything, he was anxious to put a little distance between himself and Sam even if he could not bring himself to admit that he was glad for the pick-up from the Latverian vessel.

**Author's Note:**

> © 2018 Planet Press
> 
> The Marvel characters herein are the property of Marvel Comics which retains the rights.


End file.
